Turkey rejects ‘unrealistic’ demands to shut Qatar base: reports

Doha: Turkey has dismissed as “unrealistic” demands to close a military base in Qatar as sought by a Saudi-led bloc caught up in a row with the emirate, according to reports Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the presence of Turkish troops in the gas-rich Gulf country was not connected to the ongoing crisis between the Arab countries.

“We believe this demand is both unrealistic and irrelevant,” the Turkish minister said, quoted by Qatar’s pro-government Al-Watan and Qatar Tribune newspapers.

Turkey and Qatar had signed a defence agreement in 2014, “long before the Gulf crisis”, he added.

Cavusoglu also said the diplomatic impasse should be resolved without delay.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt called for the closure of the Tariq bin Ziyad camp in Doha as part of a string of conditions to end their diplomatic and political isolation of Qatar.

The Saudi-led boycott imposed a blockade on Qatar in June 2017 over allegations the emirate supports radical Islamist groups and is seeking closer ties with regional arch-rival Iran.